LORE PLAYS: Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode

[@notyourfathersdm]

It wrecked me to realize that this entire series, To The Moon, the mini-sodes, Finding Paradise, Impostor Factory.... All of it has been a grieving Eva playing back through her memories with Neil. This whole time, we've been in a journey of mourning the friend we made along the way.

[@russmastermasterofrusses7463]

3:39:40 I think Niel was already dead, thus they went on the trip to help Eva heal. Remember that glitch at the restaurant?

[@myheartsblood]

So you wondered if Kan Gao lost somebody and the game was about that. The entire *series* is about loss. Kan Gao made To the Moon after his grandfather's death and the whole series has been an exploration of accepting loss. Whether we do so by denying reality for a better imagined ending (like Johnny in To the Moon) or by accepting reality (like Colin in Finding Paradise). Kan called those two games two sides of the same coin and this whole time we've been journeying with Eva as she accepts her own loss too.

[@MiquelGmz-r9k]

(Sorry for my english, I'm from Spain and english isn't my first language). I love how in this episode, the "loss" feeling feels so real. I mean, other important characters died in the previous games, but Neil's one feels... diferent, more realistic. In real live, when someone important to you dies, there's no narrative construction, no climax, no last words or last moments. Most part of the times, you know about someone's dead after they die. Neil' case it's similar: when you start the game, Neil is already dead. We don't know details, we can't send off him as spectators. The ending also contains this feeling: Eva's grief about Neil's dead doesn't end with some epic dialogue or heartbreaking cinematic: it ends progresively, in a slow way. This isn't a happy ending, but i think that isn't a bad one: at the end, dead is a natural thing, and Beach Episode treat this in a organical and natural way that i haven't experienced before. Thanks for the gameplay, always it' satisfaying see how other people cares about this great story.

[@Loreweaver]

The game presents you with a Fact, immutable and inarguable: a character you cared about is dead, and it's up to you to learn how to deal with it alongside Eva. It's masterfully done.

[@KryDraws]

Just finished the game today and the ending has felt simultaneously satisfying story-wise but also such a deep emptiness in me, I too have dealt with loss and I relate a lot to Eva where I really feel the sentiments of being comfortable more in memories and too reluctant to continue forward with how things would end up. In all To The Moon games, just imagining Eva playing through each of those memories just exemplars so much of prolonged grief that I sympathize a lot. I stayed at that ending for almost an hour with Neil just trying to stay in the moment until I had to press Esc just to “rest” and settle back to Eva’s reality and even my own. Such a good game. I’ve always adored Kan’s philosophical portrayals through these games. Sorry for the wall of text!! Just super,,, super ecstatic with this game but also ofc very SAD HAHA.

[@Loreweaver]

This game absolutely deserves walls of text! It's so, so, SO good. I can't imagine how I'm going to feel after I play Last Hour and the series comes to an end...

[@lucasnesey5240]

Definitely the saddest game I've ever played, it's devastating. Kan Gao is simply one of the best storytellers in the world

[@Loreweaver]

HE'S SO GODDAMN GOOD

[@jairdinh7563]

Man I just played this and knew the ending would rip my heart out and it did. What an absolutely beautiful epilogue to the best emotional videogame series of all time. I'm sad it's over but I'm still excited for anything else Kan Gao makes next.

[@Loreweaver]

I'll buy everything he puts out right away forever.

[@jairdinh7563]

@@Loreweaver From an interview from Pealeaf he apparently has a dream game that he's been working on so I'm excited for that.

[@Loreweaver]

@@jairdinh7563 Oh, man, that's really exciting. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled.

[@Mieru13]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Glad to find someone who cried a bunch while playing this game just like I did hahaha. Looking forward to seeing you play the Last Hour RPG too when it comes out (I think Kan said it would be sometime in December). It's supposed to be the final final game in the SigCorp series I believe

[@Loreweaver]

I'm not ready for this series to end ;.;

[@ViolentValentine]

Kan has once said that Beach Episode is half an ending of the series. On Twitter he mentioned that this episode and RPG are essentially good and bad endings but did not elaborate which is which.

[@MiquelGmz-r9k]

I think that the RPG would be last hour of Neil's life, so we will see his dead. This game feels more like the "consecuences" of his dead

[@livehard1865]

Exactly how I feel. I just don't want to say goodbye to the series yet. It feels like a chapter in my life is closing. One that started when I discovered To The Moon. :( This series leaves a tremendous emotional impact on me.

[@Loreweaver]

The series as a whole is condensed into one entry on my top 50 favorite games of all time list at #4. The only things that beat it for me are Persona 5 Royal, Final Fantasy IX, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. This series seriously affected me and my life is better for it.

[@DoctuhD]

[spoilers[ 3:59:25 I think most players figure out that Neil was dead pretty quick, you either notice the Neil-free pictures or you figure it out at lunch. But everyone remains in denial or avoidance until Eva finally says it at the end and makes it feel...real.